The percentage of the world's population suffering from morbid obesity is steadily increasing. Severely obese persons are susceptible to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and accidents. Because of the effect of morbid obesity to the life of the patient, methods of treating morbid obesity are being researched.
Numerous non-operative therapies for morbid obesity have been tried with virtually no permanent success. Dietary counseling, behavior modification, wiring a patient's jaws shut, and pharmacological methods have all been tried, and failed to correct the condition. Mechanical apparatuses for insertion into the body through non-surgical means, such as the use of gastric balloons to fill the stomach have also been employed in the treatment of the condition. Such devices cannot be employed over a long term, however, as they often cause severe irritation, necessitating their periodic removal and hence interruption of treatment. Thus, the medical community has evolved surgical approaches for treatment of morbid obesity.
Most surgical procedures for treatment of morbid obesity may generally be classified as either being directed toward the prevention of absorption of food (malabsorption), or restriction of stomach to make the patient feel full (gastric restriction) The most common malabsorption and gastric restriction technique is the gastric bypass. In variations of this technique, the stomach is horizontally divided into two isolated pouches, with the upper pouch having a small food capacity. The upper pouch is connected to the small intestine, or jejunum, through a small stoma, which restricts the processing of food by the greatly reduced useable stomach. Since food bypass much of the intestines, the amount of absorption of food is greatly reduced.
There are many disadvantages to the above procedure. Typically the above mentioned procedure is performed in an open surgical environment. Current minimally invasive techniques are difficult for surgeons to master, and have many additional drawbacks. Also, there is a high level of patient uneasiness with the idea of such a drastic procedure which is not easily reversible. In addition, all malabsorption techniques carry ongoing risks and side effects to the patient, including malnutrition and dumping syndrome.
Consequently, many patients and physicians prefer to undergo a gastric restriction procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity. One of the most common procedures involves the implantation of an adjustable gastric band. Examples of an adjustable gastric band can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,339 issued to Kuzmak; RE 36176 issued to Kuzmak; U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,429 issued to Kuzmak; U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,922 issued to Jacobson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,604 issued to Vincent, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. In accordance with current practice, a gastric band is operatively placed to encircle the stomach. This divides the stomach into two parts with a stoma in-between. An upper portion, or a pouch, which is relatively small, and a lower portion which is relatively large. The small partitioned portion of the stomach effectively becomes the patients new stomach, requiring very little food to make the patient feel full.
However, patients and physicians are seeking even more less invasive products and procedures for treating morbid obesity.